Saturday, March 08, 2014

Watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos in Pakistan in 1984

by Salman Hameed

It was sudden. It was unexpected. I was in 9th
grade when my life took a dramatic turn. Like many of my peers at school, I was
planning on pursuing electrical or computer engineering at N.E.D. University. My father is an engineer. My eldest brother is
an engineer. The path seemed to have been laid out. But then, on a fateful
night, Cosmos got aired on Pakistan Television (PTV). By the time
the first episode ended, I had decided to become an astronomer. In less than an
hour, a science poet from Brooklyn had fundamentally altered the trajectory of
my life in Pakistan!

I don’t remember the exact date, but this was some time in
1984. I had heard of neither Carl Sagan or of his Personal Voyage in the form of the show Cosmos. In fact, when I sat down to watch the first episode, I was
initially disappointed to find out that it was a documentary. I loved science
fiction films, but used to run away from documentaries. I was thirteen. But the name of the show, “Cosmos”, fooled me. It
sounded cool and mysterious.

And then Carl Sagan, in his inimitable accent and style,
invited us all to join him in the voyage:

The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. On this
shore we've learned most of what we know. Recently we've waded a little way
out, maybe ankle-deep, and the water seems inviting. Some part of our being
knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can. Because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of
star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.

I was hooked. The first episode ended with Sagan’s famous Cosmic Calendar, where the entire
history of the universe was compressed into one year. The Big Bang happened on
January 1st. In this calendar, the Sun and the planets formed only
in September, and life arose on September 21st. Modern humans appear
at 11:52pm on December 31st, and the entire written history would
lie within the last 13 seconds of the cosmic year. The episode ended, but I
remember sitting in stunned silence for a little while. For the first time, I
had encountered the true enormity of space and time. My jaw stay dropped for the coming weeks and months, and I was an annoying teenager who was trying to explain the Cosmic Calendar to anyone who would listen (and even listening was not exactly a precondition).

I had fallen in love with astronomy. Through Cosmos, I found out that one could be a
professional astronomer. This was a revelation: You can get paid to do what you
really love to do! Seventeen years after the airing of Cosmos in Pakistan, I
obtained my doctorate in astronomy in the US. Carl Sagan died in 1996, and I
never got a chance to thank him personally for transforming my life via only a
picture tube.

I routinely watch clips of Cosmos for writing inspiration. I have the series on iTunes, DVD,
and, yes, even on VHS. I want to make sure that in case of a technological
apocalypse, one of these formats will allow me the continued pleasure of being
awed by Sagan’s personal voyage into the cosmos.

Now I await the premiere of the new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. By all
accounts, it looks dazzling. Tyson, himself, is an outstanding communicator of
science and a worthy successor of Sagan. I’m excited to see this updated Cosmos. So much has happened in
astronomy since the first Cosmos.
Planets around other stars. An accelerating universe. Dark Matter. Dark Energy.
But in all honesty, I’m also a bit apprehensive. Sagan is often portrayed
primarily as a science communicator. But I think his biggest contribution was
to provide us with a rich and sensitive humanistic view of the universe. He
managed to balance awe and humility in the face of the enormous cosmos
uncovered by science. I hope the new Cosmos
finds a way to retain this spirit.

The wait is almost over. Cosmos:
A Spacetime Odyssey premiers tomorrow. Here is the trailer:

1 comment:

Wow. That is just fantastic. I have been trying to convince my girlfriend for some time of the magnificence of Carl Sagan's Cosmos - sadly to no avail. Now I have just given up doing it on my own and just forwarded her your piece. Thank you, sir.

What is Irtiqa?

Irtiqa is a Science and Religion blog. It tracks and comments on news relevant to the interplay of science & religion - with a focus on scientific debates taking place in the Muslim world. Irtiqa literally means evolution in Urdu. But it does not imply only biological evolution. Instead, it is an all encompassing word used for evolution of the universe, biological evolution, and also for biological/human development. While it has created confusion in debates over biological evolution in South Asia, it provides a nice integrative name for a blog that addresses issues of science & religion. For further information, contact Salman Hameed.

The blog banner is designed by Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad. You can find all his creative endeavors at Orangie.

On Muslims and Evolution

Salman Hameed

Salman is an astronomer and Associate Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, Massachusetts. Currently, he is working on understanding the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. He is also working with historian Tracy Leavelle at Creighton University to analyze reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He teaches “History and Philosophy of Science & Religion” with philosopher Laura Sizer, and “Science in the Islamic World”, both at Hampshire College. Salman and Laura Sizer are also responsible for the ongoing Hampshire College Lecture Series on Science & Religion, and you can find videos of all these lectures below. Contact information here.